436 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 3 
calks, especially in the winter, would soon spoil the 
cement. Planks laid upon stringers are twice as ex¬ 
pensive in the long run, to say nothing about the 
saving in liquid manure and general health of the 
horse, by having the cement bottom. I would as 
soon think of shutting a horse up in a stable with 
only a plank floor as sleeping there myself. 
Sandusky, O. o. B. u. 
Why Cement Floors Are Better. 
I was very much surprised at the article in The It. 
N.-Y. of June 12, by C. A. Green, on cement floors for 
stables. I am the more surprised because Mr. Green, 
only a short time ago, returned from a trip through 
Great Britain, and I’m sure, in allhiB journey through 
that country, he did not see a single wooden floor, 
except it was in an up-stairs stable, for all have cob¬ 
blestones, granite blocks, or cement. I have worked 
among horses for the past 18 or 20 years, and never 
had a wooden floor until five years ago. I had my 
first stable in Toronto, Canada, and in all that time, 
I never had a horse lame by standing on a hard floor. 
Seven years of this time I spent in a horse regiment 
in the British army, and there are none but cobble¬ 
stones, granite blocks, and cement floors ; no litter 
is allowed in the stables from 6 A. m. to 5:30 p. m., and 
each horse gets only eight pounds of straw daily for 
bedding, so you can guess what a nice, soft bed that 
will give him. Their labor is of the worst kind, 
quick and hard for a short time during drill, and then 
stand still. In all that time, I never knew a horse 
lame from standing in the stable, and I never had 
one sprained by slipping on the cement, and we have 
have had all three kinds of floor in different stables 
at the same place. 
The last stable floor I had in Stirling, Scotland, was 
cement—stable, coachhouse and court—and I never 
had an easier place to keep, or more healthful stables. 
Many private stables in Great Britain have been 
laid with glazed, corrugated bricks ; they make a very 
nice floor, but as soon as the surface is worn off, they 
soon wear into holes and have to be replaced. I have 
worked on farms where they were used in the cow 
barn, and were excellent for that purpose. I have 
had cement floor pigpens, and when I let the hogs 
out and put the hose on the floor, you could not tell, 
by the smell of the place, there had been a hog in it 
for a year. 
A horse stable with cement floor gives good, sweet 
air to breathe, and a wooden floor gives ammonia ; 
a cement floor is easier cleaned, therefore more likely 
to be better cleaned. A cement floor saves litter, be¬ 
cause it retains no moisture to be taken up by the 
straw. A cement floor saves the urine and the vet’s 
bills, because the urine is where it can be used, and so 
are the dollars the owner would have paid the vet. 
A cement floor is vermin-proof, so it also saves the 
corn crib. An ammonia-laden atmosphere and a newly- 
painted buggy make a good pair. Try them ! 
WILLIAM BUSSELL. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.1 
Keeping Ahead of Cut Worms. 
T. F., Lynch's Station, Va .— I frequently lose tomato, straw¬ 
berry and cabbage plants. How can I hold some of all the tender 
plants ready to replace those destroyed by cut worms or in any 
other way ? For instance, if I set out 1,000 tomato plants and 50 
be destroyed in some way, can you suggest a plan by which I can 
hold some ready to replace those lost, at once ? Would paper 
boxes, say several inches square, accomplish the end in view ? 
If a box containing a plant were set in the ground, would the 
paper rot in time to allow the roots of the plant to spread ? 
Ans. —If the cause of the loss is mainly cut worm 
ravages, the best thing to do would be to kill them. 
Poisoned bran is very good. Use a tablespoonful of 
Paris-green to a pailful of bran and enough water to 
moisten the mixture. The stuff is made more enticing 
if some molasses is added. Tarred paper cut in hex¬ 
agons with a hole in the center is often very good. A 
cut is made from the center to one of the corners to 
allow the stem of the plant to slip into place in the 
hole. Many growers of cabbages who practice this 
method have a special tool for cutting the pieces at a 
single blow of a hammer. The common methods of 
replacing lost plants are to grow extra plants in in¬ 
verted sods, in pots, in tin cans, and in paper pots or 
boxes. The best of these is, perhaps, the sod, which is 
cut in pieces of convenient size, and the seeds sown on 
them direct or allowed to grow in the seed pans until 
large enough to transplant. When set in the field, 
the whole mass is set out. Corn and tomato cans are 
burned to remove the solder, etc., are then wired 
(sides and bottom) and used the same as pots. There 
is, generally, less earth in pots, and with tomato 
plants this is a disadvantage. The method is prac¬ 
ticed most extensively with tomatoes. The pot method 
is the most common. At or before transplanting 
time, young plants are set in three or four-inch pots, 
kept in the hot-bed or cold frame until needed, and 
then transplanted in the usual way. In the paper 
method, so much depends upon the quality of the 
paper that little can be said as to its practicability. 
It is a fairly satisfactory method where the paper is 
sure to decay early. m. g. k. 
Bordeaux Mixture Ruins Zinc Labels. 
B. B., Farmingdale, III —Has The R. N.-Y. yet learned why, of 
late years, most of the zinc is attacked by a white powdery rust, 
and also whether any may be bought that is not so liable ? This 
is important to any who -wish to use zinc for labels. I have found 
the Bordeaux spray very harmful to zinc labels in a vineyard, 
and have noticed further that, where the label is simply wrapped 
around the wire of the trellis, it either corrodes, or wears oil (I 
cannot say which), and drops to the ground entirely too soon. 
If your questioner, A. L. S., page 277, wishes to use very many 
labels, it will be more satisfactory to him to buy tinner’s shears 
and cut his own labels, for zinc may be bought at about 60 cents 
a yard, and a yard will make 200 or 300 labels—depending on the 
size. On an average, I use in this way a yard of zinc yearly. 
Ans —If the “ white, powdery rust ” appears only 
where the Bordeaux Mixture and copper sulphate 
solutions are used for spraying, the destruction of the 
labels is due to formation of zinc sulphate. Sulphuric 
acid has a very strong affinity for zinc, so strong that 
it will leave copper sulphate in solution and form a 
compound with the zinc. The copper forms other 
compounds with the water or the lime or both, and is 
washed away by the rains. With each successive 
spraying, the same results follow, and, little by little, 
the zinc is converted into sulphate of zinc (a very 
poisonous substance), and is washed off by dews and 
rains. There is no satisfactory way of preventing 
this loss. If the labels were covered with beeswax or 
some similar substance, they might last longer, but 
not long enough to pay for the additional trouble and 
expense. Where no sulphates come in contact with 
zinc labels, they are very lasting and satisfactory, 
since nothing naturally in the air attacks them to any 
extent; in fact, on this depends the lasting qualities 
of “ white bronze”, which is composed almost wholly 
of zinc and is exposed to all weathers in our ceme¬ 
teries, where it resists the effects of time and the 
elements even better than marble or stone. Labels 
of some other material, preferably wood or sheet 
lead, should be used where spraying with sulphates 
is practiced. m. g. k, 
Those Sweet-and-Sour Apples Again. 
A. W. W., Highland, N. T.— A few weeks since, there appeared 
in The R. N.-Y. a statement from some one, that some apple trees 
bore fruit one side of which was of one color and flavor, while the 
other side was of another color and of different flavor. I send an 
apple which grew on a Roxbury Russet tree, and the two darker 
sections are decidedly Roxbury Russet, but I am unable to say 
what the other sections are; suffice it to say that you will find as 
much difference in the flavor of the different sections as there is 
in the color. I found several specimens of this fruit while pack¬ 
ing Roxbury Russets in my refrigerator this A. m. 
ANSWERED BY H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
The apple mentioned by A. W. W. was forwarded 
to me for inspection and very carefully examined. In 
all important particulars, it was a characteristic 
specimen of Roxbury Russet, except that there were 
two broad stripes or patches of smooth yellow skin 
running from stem to calyx. While this is very rare, 
there is nothing very wonderful about it. I have 
seen, perhaps, 100 similar cases of external marking of 
fruits, especially in apples, pears and oranges. It is 
commonly claimed by those who find such things, 
that they are the result of the pollen of other varie¬ 
ties affecting certain portions or segments of the 
fruit; that one or more of the pistils of the flower 
were cross-pollinated and the whole of that part of 
the fruit changed in character from core to skin. 
This is not claimed by A. W. W. in regard to the 
apple sent. In all the cases wherein such claims have 
been made, that have come under my notice, and 
those that I have found myself, the facts did not sup¬ 
port the theory, because the outer marks did not 
correspond with the internal structure of the sections 
of the core. The patches of normal and abnormal 
skin were irregular in size and did not match with 
the core lines of one or more of the internal sections 
or seed cells. For instance, an apple has five cells to 
its core, and if one cell and its corresponding part of 
the fruit had been affected by the pollen of another 
variety in so far as to change the color of the skin, 
that part of the skin, and that only, immediately 
opposite the cross-pollinated cell, would be changed. 
In the present case, this was very evident, as I not¬ 
iced after critical examination. 
A. W. W. says, “ You will find as much difference 
in the flavor in the different sections as there is in the 
color.” This point was most carefully considered in 
my examination, and I found no difference whatever 
in flavor. I subjected parts of the flesh from beneath 
each color of the skin to all the members of my family 
without letting them know why I did so, asking them 
if there was any difference in flavor, and they could 
not notice any. I have made tests of other specimens 
of similar character for many years past with like 
results. 
The sweet-and-sour apple discussion is continued at 
length on page 412 by several persons, some of whom 
I know personally. They make positive statements 
as to there being a variety or varieties of the apple 
having one or more parts sweet and others sour. 
From the similarity of description, I judge that they 
may all refer to the same variety, which is like Rhode 
Island Greening, if not a freak or sport of that variety 
from bud variation. I wish to state plainly that I 
have no desire, neither did I ever have any, to affirm 
or even to argue that there is no such thing as a 
sweet-and-sour apple, except as the facts have come 
to my notice. I have heard of such a variety for 
about 40 years past, but have never seen one up to 
this day. Now that we have positive statements as 
to the existence of one or more varieties, I hope to 
get specimens the coming fall, if the trees bear. I 
am anxious, as others are, no doubt, to have the 
matter settled once for all, and I hope that we shall 
find the variety according to description and well 
fixed in type. It is no more wonderful that there 
be a parti-flavored apple than a parti-colored flower 
from bud variation. 
But I have no faith in the idea that such a variety 
was originated by splitting the buds of two varieties 
of different flavor, and inserting them side by side in 
a stock, so they would unite and combine the diverse 
flavors of the two. I have tried that same thing 
repeatedly, and rarely succeeded in getting either 
part to grow, and never any varietal union. I fully 
believe that this is as much of a myth as that about 
the cow jumping over the moon. Maybe she can do 
it, but I have never seen the performance. It would 
be a good plan to have the sweet-and-sour apple 
growers bring or send a copious supply of specimens 
of the variety or varieties to the meeting of the 
American Pomological Society at Columbus, O., next 
September, with full history, etc., in each case. 
These can be passed upon by an expert committee 
and the facts placed on record. 
The Plum and Its Seedlings. 
C. B., Haskinville, N. Y .—We were just having a little discus¬ 
sion as to whether plum trees grow true from the seed. Will you 
enlighten us ? 
Ans —The plum, like other fruits, varies greatly in 
its seedlings. There is no certainty of getting the 
same variety as the parent from which the seed came ; 
but, on the contrary, there is almost an absolute cer¬ 
tainty that the seedling will be of a different char¬ 
acter in fruit and style of tree and leaf. However, 
the Damson plums are far more likely to come nearly 
true from seed than any other class. h. e. v. d. 
What Soil for Chestnut Culture ? 
F. II., Oakland, Me .—What is an ideal soil for sweet chestnuts 
(American) ? I have a rather moist piece of land, and should 
like to plant some in it ? Would spring or fall he the best time 
to set them ? Would it be a profitable investment ? Do they 
need any pruning to make them bear young ? 
Ans. —Well-drained sandstone land is the best for 
chestnuts of any kind. Limestone land does not 
seem to be congenial to them, although there are 
rare cases of large trees having grown up on such 
land that are doing very well. On the contrary, there 
are many cases in which they have not done well on it, 
and especially on low, rich land. The wild chestnut for¬ 
ests of North America are chiefly on the hills and moun¬ 
tains of the Appalachian Range from New York to Geor¬ 
gia and the neighboring country. The most thrifty and 
productive trees are on rich but well-drained slopes 
and rocky hills. I would not advise F. H. to plant 
the American or any other species of chestnut on land 
that is inclined to be wet. If loose, and only some¬ 
what moist, with good underdrainage, his land might 
do for chestnut culture. As yet, we have no varieties 
of our native chestnut that have proved, under cul¬ 
ture, to be of sufficient value, when compared with 
the best varieties of the foreign species, to warrant 
propagation by grafting. There are several such 
under trial that may prove worthy. Their flavor is 
better than almost every variety of the foreign kinds, 
but the latter are so much larger, hence more attrac¬ 
tive in market, that they are more profitable. In 
Maine, where the growing seasons are short, it would 
be well to plant the earliest kinds, such as Early 
Reliance, Alpha and Advance, which are of the Japan¬ 
ese strain. Paragon is a variety of the European 
species and of large size and good quality, but it may 
not be early enough for Maine ; however, it should 
be tried there. There is some doubt as to the hardi¬ 
ness of these varieties in that climate, and only a few 
should be planted until after further trial. If wild 
chestnuts glow and bear well in that locality, which 
is certainly near the northern limit of chestnut for¬ 
ests, or if planted trees are doing well there, it might 
pay financially to plant a chestnut orchard there. It 
is always wise to look well into local experience, if 
possible, before venturing much in the way of plant¬ 
ing untried things, and not to strain nature too 
greatly. I would prefer spring planting in the cli¬ 
mate of Maine. Pruning is rarely necessary with 
chestnut trees. The varieties named above bear at 
an early age. h. e. v. d, 
